Orange County NC Website
Living Wage -continued <br />Based on the demographics of the County workforce, the living wage calculation was <br />updated in FY 2011 -12 to determine a cost of living index for the Orange County <br />Region, including Orange, Durham, Alamance and Wake Counties. Data was obtained <br />from each city (Chapel Hill, Durham, Burlington and Raleigh) and averaged to obtain the <br />cost of living index for the Orange County Region. <br />For information, Chart 1 below shows the unadjusted Federal poverty guidelines. <br />These establish the annual earnings needed for a family of a specific size to meet the <br />threshold, assuming a single wage earner and 2,080 working hours (40 hour work <br />schedule) annually. <br />Chart 1 - Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines Minimum Hourly Wage <br />Number in <br />Family <br />2009 <br />2010 <br />2011 <br />2012 <br />2013 <br />1 <br />$5.21 <br />$5.21 <br />$5.24 <br />$5.37 <br />$5.52 <br />2 <br />$7.00 <br />$7.00 <br />$7.07 <br />$7.27 <br />$7.46 <br />3 <br />$8.80 <br />$8.80 <br />$8.91 <br />$9.18 <br />$9.39 <br />4 <br />$10.60 <br />$10.60 <br />$10.75 <br />$11.08 <br />$11.32 <br />5 <br />$12.40 <br />$12.40 <br />$12.58 <br />$12.99 <br />$13.25 <br />Chart 2 - Cost of Living Index <br />Chart 2 below shows the Raleigh- Durham Region cost of living for 2009 and the Orange <br />County Region cost of living for 2010 through 2012. For 2012, data was obtained from <br />the cost of living indexes for each city: Chapel Hill (106.4), Durham (92.7), Burlington <br />(95.0) and Raleigh (90.8). The index shown below for 2010 through 2012 is the <br />average of the four cities. Cost of living data is not yet available for 2013. <br />Calendar Year <br />Cost of Living Index <br />2009 <br />102.1% <br />2010 <br />100.6% <br />2011 <br />99.0% <br />2012 <br />96.2% <br />2013 <br />unavailable <br />Chart 3 below shows the Federal poverty levels, adjusted for the Raleigh- Durham <br />Region cost of living for 2009 and the Orange County Region cost of living for 2010 <br />through 2013. The 2011 wage per hour has been updated based on the 2011 Orange <br />County Region cost of living index, which was unavailable when it was originally <br />calculated in early 2011. The 2013 wage per hour relies upon the 2012 cost of living <br />index in the absence of available data for 2013. <br />01191 <br />